Goldie, a 5-year-old lab-shepherd mix, didn’t know she was doing anything wrong. In fact, she thought herding two dogs into her owners’ fenced-in yard was a good thing.
Sandra Rackley owns a boarding kennel in Soddy-Daisy and often has new dogs in the yard around the kennel. That’s nothing new. But what was different was Goldie bringing new dogs into the pack.
“We heard dogs barking out in the yard, and before I could even get my shoes on to go outside and check things out, I saw Goldie herding them into the fenced-in area,” Rackley said, adding that she’d left the gate into the kennel open because there were no dogs boarding at the time.
Goldie’s herding instinct often kicks in when she’s around boarding dogs. “She’s always running around the fence barking at them,” Rackley said. “She knows they are not supposed to be outside the kennel area.”
That’s when Goldie noticed the two dogs outside the kennel and went to work. The Rackleys contacted the owners of one of the dogs. The other dog eventually wandered home on his own. Goldie remains on guard, watching for any potential escapees to round up and bring home.